


Husbands, Wives, Birthdays, and Personal Trainers

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Drama, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-15
Updated: 2007-12-15
Packaged: 2019-05-31 08:19:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15115484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: "I need to talk to you about something quite ridiculous so I need you to bear with me."





	Husbands, Wives, Birthdays, and Personal Trainers

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

  
Author's notes: Toby and Nora came to my mind as older people and I wanted to write about it. Life went on for them too after they left the White House of my imagination. Maybe I should write about them more as I truly love the coupling.  


* * *

“Claudia Jean, do you need help?”

Josh came into the kitchen and Toby stepped away from CJ as if he were doing something wrong. The former Second Lady turned to him.

“Actually you can take the appetizers and…” she opened the stainless steel refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of Krug. “the champagne. I will be right out.”

“Hurry up. Cameras are coming out.”

“OK.”

CJ smiled as he left with everything she handed him. She turned back to her best friend.

“Why do you have such a guilty look on your face?” she asked. “It’s not as if we were making out when Josh came into the room. What's the matter?”

“I just…” his sigh sounded like the onslaught of an asthma attack. “Nevermind. C’mon, we better get back to the party before we arouse suspicion.”

“Suspicion?” CJ looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Her blue eyes burned holes through him but Toby found it better to look at his sensible, old man shoes. When the hell did he start wearing old man shoes?

“Why don’t you want to talk to me?” she asked.

“I never said that. It’s…its…CJ…”

“Are you sick?” she took his face in her hands, comforted by the warmth of his skin. They were not young anymore and slowly they would say goodbye to each other. CJ certainly did not like to spend her time focused on that but it was a fact of life. She liked to keep things in perspective so as not to have reality knock her too far backward when it struck.

“Are you keeping something from me? are you keeping something from Nora?”

“No.” he noticed the skepticism on her face. “No CJ.” he caressed the hand still holding his face. “It is nothing like that. C’mon, we will go back out there and have a good time. I will talk to you about it very soon.”

Not quite convinced, CJ nodded, letting him take her hand and lead her back into the living room. Tonight was Nora’s birthday; the whole gang was together. Charlie and Zoey came home from DC…CJ was excited to have Sparky back. The Secret Service was also back but she did not mind. They were not for her.

“I was starting to think you fell in.” Greg said, putting his arm around his wife and kissing her shoulder.

“Fell in what?” she asked laughing.

“I don’t know.”

That caused more laughter. Hogan had her camera; she wanted pictures. It did not take long for everyone to get in the mood. They noshed, drank, laughed, shared memories, danced, and took many pictures. All evening CJ stole glances at Toby but he did not seem in a rush to speak to her. She did notice him in an intense conversation with Charlie. That did not seem unusual. Seeing him do it with Cliff Calley did raise red flags. It was not as if the men didn’t talk…Cliff was a real member of the family. What did he want to tell her? It was going to chew at her until she knew for sure.

“Hey there.”

CJ smiled at Nora when she came out on the balcony to stand beside her. They watched the rain as CJ handed her best friend a cigarette and lit it for her.

“Happy birthday to me.”

CJ grinned, taking a deep inhale.

“Another autumn in New York. Any wishes?”

“I want to go away when the weather turns colder. Just us girls…maybe the house in Maui.”

“I will never turn down vacation with my favorite people. Anything else?”

“Toby and I need some time.”

“What's the matter?”

Nora shrugged. She thought she might have some idea but was not quite ready even to talk to her best friend about it.

“I just want to make sure we stay close, you know?”

“I do…I plan to get really close to Greg as soon as I can get rid of all of you.”

Nora laughed. She leaned her head on CJ’s shoulder. CJ slid her arm around her waist.

“I love you very, very, very much.” She said. “I doubt if I tell you that enough but I'm not sure if you realize that I would not have made it through the past few years without you and Donna. I don’t know if I would have made it through the past thirty something years without you.”

“The sidekick is not overrated.” Nora replied.

“Stop it…you are so much more than that. You are the voice of reason and rationality. You are the cheering section, the beer buddy, the late night phone call, and the one who knows how to slap sense into me. There are not enough words for what you have been to me all of these years.”

“Did you buy me a kick ass gift?”

CJ looked at her and they both fell into a fit of giggles. When they laughed it sounded as if they were women in their 30s. No one would know that they were three decades beyond that.

“I love you Claudia Jean.” Nora kissed her forehead.

“Hey, do you love me?”

Donna came out onto the balcony.

“What, are you kidding me? Get over here Blondie.”

The three women hugged. Donna told them it was time to cut the cake.

“Did you get me a kick ass gift Donna?”

All three of them laughed again. Greg was bringing the cake out of the kitchen. There were far too many candles on it but Nora sang Happy Birthday to herself just as loud as everyone else.

***

“I thought I would help you clean.”

Toby came into the kitchen, creating a feeling of déjà vu for CJ. The party was over and all of her friends had gone home. The clock on the microwave said 10:15.

“There's not much. Where is Nora?”

“Downstairs taking a shower before making another assessment of her birthday booty.”

“Sounds like something you should be making an assessment of Tobus.”

He grinned, sitting down at the kitchen table. CJ offered him something to drink.

“Rum and Coke. Do you have Parrot Bay?”

“Damn straight.”

She poured him the perfect drink before going back to her cleaning.

“CJ?”

“Yeah?”

“I need to talk to you about something quite ridiculous so you need to bear with me.”

“So, no laughing?” she sat down across from him lighting a cigarette. She probably shouldn’t have but she would not smoke at all tomorrow to make up for it.

“No.”

“Snickering? When I snicker you can hardly tell.”

“CJ.” he said it through clenched teeth.

She smiled, caressing his hand.

“You know that you can tell me anything. C’mon Toby, I know something is bothering you.”

“Does Nora tell you everything?”

“I don't know. She tells me a lot…she trusts me. You're about to ask me to break that trust, aren’t you?”

“I'm not sure.”

They were quiet as she smoked her cigarette. She took a sip of his drink.

“I think I might not interest Nora anymore. She is still so vibrant,” Toby smiled thinking of his wife. “Which I find so sexy. But I'm…” his voice trailed off.

CJ didn’t say anything. She didn’t know where this conversation was going but she had had it in one form or another with both of her husbands. Toby felt the need to talk it out and she was going to let him.

“Nora may be sleeping with her personal trainer.”

She tried really hard, maintained a straight face for at least 45 seconds, before she fell into laughter. Toby was not amused.

“Dammit Claudia Jean!”

“Floyd? Toby, be real. Nora is not sleeping with Floyd. Firstly…”

“He is not gay. Don’t even say it; I know he is not gay. I know it for sure.”

“While I won't even get into how you know for sure, Nora is old enough to be his mother.”

“She doesn’t look her age; none of you do.”

“She is not sleeping with Floyd.” CJ said it slow to make sure he understood.

“Would she tell you if she were?” Toby asked.

“Without a doubt.”

“Would you tell me?”

That question made her pause. Both Nora and Toby were CJ’s best friends. At the pearly gates, she would never be able to choose between them and Kate Ritter, who still knew secrets about her that she had not even shared with Leo. The three of them knew her better than anyone who walked the Earth did. She would hold their secrets to the grave as they held hers.

“No.”

“What! Are you serious?”

“I could never betray Nora’s confidence Toby…she has never betrayed mine.”

“So you could be lying to me right now.”

“I have never once lied to you!”

“Its one or the other CJ. Betray her or lie to me…you can't do both.”

“You're misunderstanding.”

“How?” he was angry and she knew it.

“Look,” she put her hand over his but he moved away. “If Nora ever confided in me that she did something like that I would implore her to tell you. I would tell her that if you ever confronted me I would not lie to you. Pretty much the same conversation we had when you told me David committed suicide and you were spending too much time with a woman who was not your wife.”

Toby took a deep breath, remembering the night 27 years ago as if it were last night. He rubbed his eyes, pushing his drink aside. CJ took it.

“You never told her about David. I told Nora myself.”

“I know.” CJ replied. “She never asked me. She never asked me about any of that because she trusted you to share it with her. Don't you trust her to do the same?”

“Swear to me CJ; swear to me on Leo.”

“How could you ask me to do something like that? You bastard! I can't believe that you think she would ever hurt you like that. You hurt her, not the other way around. Oh God, I'm sorry.” She held her head before raking her fingers through her hair. This was going south very quickly. “Do you remember when Leo accused me…you were livid. Now you are going to do the same thing. You're feeling sorry for yourself and blaming Nora. Men are…Jesus Toby.”

“I'm not doing that.” he mumbled.

“Oh really? How do you figure?”

“I'm not doing that!” he shouted.

“Yes you are!”

“Don’t shout at me!”

“Fuck you!”

They stared at each other, breathing hard and angry. Toby looked away first; he always did.

“You are too old to be so stubborn and stupid.” CJ said.

“You are never too old to be stupid.”

Greg came into the room for a cup of tea with Jack in tow. He felt the tension, trying to go about his business as quickly as possible. Toby and CJ were not talking and he was spending too much time twirling his wedding band. She thought about finishing the rum and Coke but Greg took it from the table and poured it down the drain. Neither one of them needed any more alcohol. He leaned and kissed the top of his wife’s head.

“Hurry to bed baby. Goodnight Toby.”

“Goodnight Greg. Thanks for the party; it was great.” Toby finally looked at CJ when Greg walked out. “I'm sorry.”

“Just forget about it.”

“No, seriously. I am sorry. I should not have dragged you into this and I certainly should not have accused you of lying. CJ, you have been nothing but a true friend to me, whether I deserve it or not.”

“Ditto.”

“I love Nora so much and I know that I don’t always act like the man she needs me to be. I couldn’t bear it if she found it somewhere else.”

“You need to go home…it’s her birthday. You can be that man tonight. You should not be here with me.”

She would not let him talk anymore; to apologize or anything else. He just stood and CJ walked him to the door. She shooed back Buttons, who looked as if he were contemplating making a break for it.

“It’s a hard knock life out there kitty.” Toby said. “Stay in here where it is warm and you are loved.” He embraced CJ. “I love you.”

“Love you too. Goodnight.” She kissed his bearded cheek.

“Goodnight.”

Toby walked down the hall, got on the elevator, and rode it down two floors. He went straight to his door, went in and headed to the bedroom. Harry Reasoner followed but kept his distance; he knew Toby didn’t like stalking.

“Hey sugar plum.”

“Hey!” Nora looked up from her magazine. “I was starting to worry about you. Is everything OK?”

“Sure.” He lied and it sounded like it. “I thought you would be counting out all the goodies you got tonight.”

“I did that already. I even had time for an extra piece of cake. It was just a sliver but I will do a brisk walk on the treadmill tomorrow to make up for it.”

Toby nodded, smiling as he began to undress. Nora went back to More Magazine. She made room on the bed for Harry, who promptly laid his head in her lap for love and attention. Andy was asleep at the foot of the bed…Nora pet him gently with her foot.

“Something eating at you, speechwriter?”

“On your birthday? No.”

“Was it bothering you yesterday? Might it be bothering you again tomorrow?”

Toby didn’t say much as he put on his pajamas. It seemed as if Nora was not in the mood to press. Perhaps she wanted a Happy Birthday, free from her husband’s many neuroses. After being married to him for 30 years with all the ups and downs, she earned it.

***

‘Toby seemed very upset earlier.” Greg said.

He was not sure if he was going to bring it up. CJ was already dressed for bed, or maybe something more exciting. Her head rested on her husband’s shoulder as he played Mah Jong on his laptop. In a matter of moments, Greg had it down to a science; she would be turning it off for the appropriate cuddling. That suited him just fine.

“He was, but I think he is OK now.”

“What was the matter?”

“Too many things to even discuss. It was all silly and though I understand and even sympathize, he pissed me off. I love him though, and his pissing me off is nothing new. He is going to be fine.”

CJ sat up, taking the laptop and closing it. Greg smiled at her. He at least thought she would let him finish the game but that was what the save button was for.

“You don’t want to talk about Toby, do you?”

“What gave you that indication?”

“Oh you know, the little things.”

The computer went on the nightstand and his wife replaced it in his lap. Greg unbuttoned her pajama top, sliding it off and down her arms. CJ pulled him close; teased his lips with her tongue.

“It was a really good night.” He said, allowing her to remove his tee shirt.

“It is definitely getting ready to get better, Mr. Brock.”

***

“Did you get everything you wanted tonight?” Toby asked.

“Yes.”

“So, one more gift would tip you over maybe?”

“I have another gift?”

Nora’s hazel eyes lit up and that made Toby smile. He sat down on the bed, went into his nightstand drawer and pulled out the jewelry box.

“What did you do speechwriter?”

“Nothing. I just went into the drawer.”

Nora laughed as she opened it. Then she gasped.

“Oh my God, this is beautiful.” She pulled out the emerald bracelet. “Toby…”

Tears pooled in her eyes and though she fought the urge to blink, she lost. Toby gently wiped her face. 

“I know I don’t buy you showy things but when I saw it in the window I knew the only place it would ever be beautiful is on your wrist.”

“I love it.” she pulled him into her arms. “I love you. I love you so much.”

“I love you too sugar.”

She kissed him softly and then passionately. Toby ran his fingers through her hair. When they pulled apart, he took her hand, putting the bracelet on her wrist.

“You like it?” he asked.

“That’s a silly question…its magnificent Toby.”

“I'm glad.”

‘”I have another bit of good news for you honey. Floyd is not my trainer anymore; Kristen replaced him.”

“Really?”

“Mmm hmm. I knew you were uncomfortable with it so I just switched. Everyone was fine with it.”

“You didn’t…”

“Yes, I did. You hated when he came over; you hated when he touched me.”

“I tried not to.” Toby mumbled. “I thought you might be attracted to him and I didn’t know what to do about it.”

“One would have to be blind not to recognize Floyd as attractive. He is not my type though.”

“You got types?” he pulled her closer, kissing her again.

“As a matter of fact, I do. Aging speechwriters who love cats, naps, and excessive reading.”

“And I don’t bore you Nora? I'm so damn afraid that I bore you. I should be more adventurous; you have such a zest for life.”

“My whole life with you has been an adventure…you better not change a thing. I love lying on the couch with you, and talking until we fall asleep. I love reading paper on Sundays and eating corn muffins. I love dragging you to the Met and watching you enjoy yourself. I especially love when you fall asleep with one of the cats in your lap. You are my husband and you always will be. Floyd…please. He cannot hold a candle to you. I promise.”

“But I can't always…”

“Stop.” She put her finger on his lips. “It is my birthday and I am with my favorite person. We need to turn out the lights.”

“Why?”

Nora just laughed. She reached for the lamp but Toby stopped her.

“The joy I get from looking at your body is indescribable. I plan to do that tonight.”

He shooed the cats; Andy and Harry went over to the couch. Nora slid back on the bed and pulled Toby with her. He leaned to whisper in her ear.

Happy Birthday to you.  
Happy Birthday to you  
Happy Birthday dear Nora  
Happy Birthday to you.

“I love you Toby Ziegler.”

“I love you too. And I am ecstatic that you got rid of Floyd.”

“Mmm hmm.” She laughed. “I know you too well.”

“Ditto. Though I have to tell you, I am eager to reacquaint myself with this magnificent body. We need to have a long conversation.”

She grinned, relaxing on the mattress as Toby gave her the most wonderful gift of all. It was as good as it had always been and Nora knew it always would be. You could not love someone and know them as well as she did her husband and not be able to reach them on every level. She knew what Toby thought and felt whether he decided to reveal it or not. It just made Nora giggle that after all these years he didn’t quite get that.

“Mmm Toby…mmm my God.”

“Oh yeah sugar, some things never change.”

And, at times, that was just as Nora wanted it.

***


End file.
